Spotlights

Holly Jedlicka ’97 smiled from ear to ear as she thanked a team of Otterbein University students for the $500 donation to her nonprofit organization, PBJ Connections, at an awards reception on Friday, May 9. PBJ Connections, which was co-founded by Jedlicka and provides mental and behavioral health therapy to youth and families using horses, was one of 15 Licking County (Ohio) nonprofit organizations to receive donations from Otterbein students enrolled in management and nonprofit management courses during spring semester.

With the increase in job opportunities for aspiring mathematicians, highly qualified teachers will need to be ready to teach them. Otterbein University is poised to meet the demand through its Masters of Arts in Mathematical Education (MAEM) degree.

A new book by Otterbein University Professor Robert N. Kraft presents a compelling study of how ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of violence and how perpetrators and victims manage in the aftermath. Violent Accounts: Understanding the Psychology of Perpetrators through South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was released by New York University Press on March 21.

While many Otterbein University students spent their Spring Break on the beach, or at home visiting family, or working, 12 students, enrolled in the English course titled Literary Locations, as well as three alumnae, were exploring London and visiting historic literary sites.

This week, students enrolled in a public relations case study course have teamed up with the Office of Student Conduct & Wellness to raise awareness about mental health stigmas on campus through a campaign titled, "Erase the Stigma."

The minute fifth-grader Chuck Deyo '64 sat in an airplane for the very first time during a class field trip, a sense of comfort and belonging came over him. He immediately felt a fascination and sense of “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Senior music education major Kayne Edwards is bringing students, as well as a community, together through his Senior Year Experience project, Amp It Up. Amp It Up is helping to establish an electric strings program at Gahanna Jefferson Public Schools (GJPS) in Gahanna, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

“When I salute the flag, I can’t explain the feeling that I get. You’re doing something that is unselfish.” That’s how adult student and Army veteran Alex Thibodeaux explains what drives him to his goal of completing his bachelor’s degree in Global Studies.

Adults start and finish undergraduate education at different life stages. One student who has managed to juggle her personal life, career and education successfully is Carmelita “Carmen” Ingram. Otterbein understands the unique challenges and aspirations of adult students.

Otterbein is hosting a series of open houses for adult and transfer students on April 24, May 7, June 18 and July 17. Register now to attend one of these open houses to learn more about Otterbein's degree completion programs.

Otterbein University will be hosting a series of events featuring student research and creative works by undergraduate and graduate students, including the third annual Cardinal Colloquium as the keynote event.

A hydrology classroom project is giving Otterbein University students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, while simultaneously solving a drainage issue on campus. A rain garden is being constructed between Battelle Fine Arts Center and the parking lot behind Roush Hall.

Otterbein will welcome novelist Sir Salman Rushdie to campus on April 10-11, 2014, as the Vernon L. Pack Distinguished Lecturer. Rushdie will give a public lecture, Public Events, Private Lives: Literature and Politics in the Modern World, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, in Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St. Free tickets are available to the general public beginning March 17 at the Cowan Hall box office from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is a limit of two tickets per person.